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Operational Efficiency
In a business context, operational efficiency is a measurement of resource allocation and can be defined as the ratio between an output gained from the business and an input to run a business operation. When improving operational efficiency, the output to input ratio improves. Inputs would typically be money (cost), people (measured either as headcount or as the number of full-time equivalents) or time/effort. Outputs would typically be money (revenue, margin, cash), new customers, customer loyalty, market differentiation, production, innovation, quality, speed & agility, complexity or opportunities. The terms "operational efficiency", "efficiency" and "productivity" are often used interchangeably. An explanation of the difference between efficiency and (total factor) productivity is found in "An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis". To complicate the meaning, '' operational excellence,'' which is about continuous improvement, not limited to efficiency, is occasio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Full-time Equivalent
Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a worker's or student's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time worker or student, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of a full work or school load. In government United States According to the federal government of the United States, FTE is defined by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as the number of total hours worked divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a full-time schedule as defined by law. For example, if the normal schedule for a quarter is defined as 411.25 hours ( 5 hours per week × (52 weeks per year – 5 weeks' regulatory vacation)/ 4), then someone working 100 hours during that quarter represents 100/411.25 = ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Customer Loyalty
In marketing and consumer behaviour, brand loyalty describes a consumer's persistent positive feelings towards a familiar brand and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly regardless of deficiencies, a competitor's actions, or changes in the market environment. It's also demonstrated with behaviors such as positive word-of-mouth advocacy. Corporate brand loyalty is where an individual buys products from the same manufacturer repeatedly and without wavering, rather than from other suppliers. In a business-to-business context, the term source loyalty is also used.Wind, Y.Industrial Source Loyalty ''Journal of Marketing Research'', Volume 7, No. 4 (November 1970), pp. 450-457, accessed on 22 January 2025 Loyalty implies dedication and should not be confused with habit, its less-than-emotional engagement and commitment. Businesses whose financial and ethical values (for example, ESG responsibilities) rest in large part on their brand loyalty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efficiency
Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid making mistakes or wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. In more mathematical or scientific terms, it signifies the level of performance that uses the least amount of inputs to achieve the highest amount of output. It often specifically comprises the capability of a specific application of effort to produce a specific outcome with a minimum amount or quantity of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort.Sickles, R., and Zelenyuk, V. (2019).Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . Efficiency refers to very different inputs and outputs in different fields and industries. In 2019, the European Commission said: "Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable procent manner while minimising impacts on the envi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Productivity
Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time. The most common example is the (aggregate) labour productivity measure, one example of which is GDP per worker. There are many different definitions of productivity (including those that are not defined as ratios of output to input) and the choice among them depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and data availability. The key source of difference between various productivity measures is also usually related (directly or indirectly) to how the outputs and the inputs are aggregated to obtain such a ratio-type measure of productivity. Productivity is a crucial factor in the production performance of firms and nations. Increasing national productivi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operational Excellence
Operational Excellence (OE) is the systematic implementation of principles and tools designed to enhance organizational performance, and create a culture focused on continuous improvement. It is intended to enable employees to identify, deliver, and enhance the flow of value to customers. Common frameworks associated with operational excellence include: lean management and Six Sigma, which emphasize efficiency, waste reduction, and quality improvement. Organizations that adopt these practices may report increased customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Operational Excellence leverages earlier continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, OKAPI, and scientific management. The concept was introduced in the 1970s by Dr. Joseph M. Juran, who taught Japanese business leaders quality improvement methods. It gained prominence in the United States during the 1980s as a response to the competitive pressure from Japanese imports, leading to what some t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Performance Indicator
A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it engages. KPIs provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most. Often success is simply the repeated, periodic achievement of some levels of operational goal (e.g. zero defects, 10/10 customer satisfaction), and sometimes success is defined in terms of making progress toward strategic goals. Accordingly, choosing the right KPIs relies upon a good understanding of what is important to the organization. What is deemed important often depends on the department measuring the performance – e.g. the KPIs useful to finance will differ from the KPIs assigned to sales. Since there is a need to understand well what is important, various technique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operating Expense
An operating expense (opex) is an ongoing cost for running a product, business, or system. Its counterpart, a '' capital expenditure'' (capex), is the cost of developing or providing non-consumable parts for the product or system. For example, the purchase of a photocopier involves capex, and the annual paper, toner, power and maintenance costs represents opex. For larger systems like businesses, opex may also include the cost of workers and facility expenses such as rent and utilities. Overview In business, an operating expense is a day-to-day expense such as sales and administration, or research & development, as opposed to production. In short, this is the money the business spends in order to turn inventory into throughput. On an income statement, "operating expenses" is the sum of a business's operating expenses for a period of time, such as a month or year. In throughput accounting, the cost accounting aspect of the theory of constraints (TOC), operating expense is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure or capital expense (abbreviated capex, CAPEX, or CapEx) is the money an organization or corporate entity spends to buy, maintain, or improve its fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, or land. It is considered a capital expenditure when the asset is newly purchased or when money is used towards extending the useful life of an existing asset, such as repairing the roof. Capital expenditures contrast with operating expenses (opex), which are ongoing expenses that are inherent to the operation of the asset. Opex includes items like electricity or cleaning. The difference between opex and capex may not be immediately obvious for some expenses; for instance, repaving the parking lot may be thought of inherent to the operation of a shopping mall. Similarly, the costs of software for a business (either software development or software as a service licensing) might fall into either opex or capex (that is, is it merely business as usual, or is it somet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Headcount
HeadCount is a national nonprofit organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy in the United States. It is one of the largest voter registration organizations, having registered over 1.2 million voters since launching in 2004. HeadCount started off registering voters at concerts before expanding to sporting events, community events and online. Origins The organization was co-founded in 2004 by Marc Brownstein, bass player for the popular electronic rock band The Disco Biscuits, and his friend Andy Bernstein, author of ''The Pharmer's Almanac'', a series of books about Phish. Since its inception, HeadCount has been largely volunteer-driven. It fields volunteer teams in most major U.S. cities. Each consists of a trained team leader who runs the local operations, and a cadre of volunteers. These teams then set up tables at concerts through which they register voters and disseminate information related to political issues and upcoming elections. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing to evaluate customer experience. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified Contentment, satisfaction goals".. Enhancing customer satisfaction and fostering customer loyalty are pivotal for businesses, given the significant importance of improving the balance between customer Attitude (psychology), attitudes before and after the consumption process. Expectation confirmation theory, Expectancy disconfirmation theory is the most widely accepted theoretical framework for explaining customer satisfaction. However, other frameworks, such as equity theory, attribution theory, Contrast theory of meaning, contrast theory, assimilation theory, and various others, are also used to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. Dimensions typically measured are Project management triangle, quality, time and cost. Benchmarking is used to measure performance using a specific Performance indicator, indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others. Also referred to as "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking", this process is used in management in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best-practice companies' processes, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of comparison. This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to make improvements or adapt specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " art of the general", which included several subsets of skills including military tactics, siegecraft, logistics etc., the term came into use in the 6th century C.E. in Eastern Roman terminology, and was translated into Western vernacular languages only in the 18th century. From then until the 20th century, the word "strategy" came to denote "a comprehensive way to try to pursue political ends, including the threat or actual use of force, in a dialectic of wills" in a military conflict, in which both adversaries interact. Strategy is important because the resources available to achieve goals are usually limited. Strategy generally involves setting goals and priorities, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
